Big Turn on for Yesterday’s Rally (4/2/09)
Scott Wilson and his SAG Stalwarts had one of there biggest turnouts yesterday. The rally in front of MPAA/AMPTP headquarters was going pretty good when the Ol’ Dog got there at noon.
There were a hundred and fourteen picketers counted at that point and it continued to grow during the hour I was there. With protesters coming and going, easily more than a hundred and fifty showed up during the three hour “Justice For Actors” rally, including ex SAG President Asner and current president Alan Rosenberg, looking more and more like his idol Abe Lincoln every day.
Here is another one of those great videos by Rico which will put you right in the middle of the action.
Part One:
TARGET="_blank"> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwgElEhpu7U&feature=related
Part Two:
TARGET="_blank"> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjq8ukh2cJI
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Posted: Wed., Apr. 1, 2009, 8:00am PT
SAG, AFTRA reach ad deal
Pact accepted by negotiators after expiration
By DAVE MCNARY
Negotiators for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists have reached a tentative three-year deal with the ad industry on a commercials contract, a few hours after the expiration of the current contract.
The unions made the announcement Wednesday morning in New York following five weeks of negotiations at the Crowne Plaza Hotel under a news blackout. The pact must be approved by the joint board of the two unions, then ratified by the 150,000 members of both unions via mail ballot to go into effect.
Earlier in the week, Madison Avenue had signaled that a deal was likely with the ad industry's top negotiator saying he was "cautiously optimistic." The current pact covers about $900 million in annual work with SAG members performing the lion's share.
SAG and AFTRA said the first year of the deal contains more than $36 million in wage rates and other payments; $21 million in increased pension and health fund contributions; establishment of a payment structure for work made for and moved over to the Internet and other new media platforms; and a provision for a two-year pilot study by a consultant to test a revamp of compensation, based on ratings rather than the current pay-per-play model.
The unions said the current method of payment -- also known as the ”Class A” payment structure for ads run on network -- remains unchanged.
The unions will probably be able conclude the ratification vote by late April or early May. If ratified, the deal will be retroactive to Wednesday and run through March 31, 2012
For SAG, the deal represents the first agreement reached since its national board ousted Doug Allen as national exec director two months ago, replacing him with John McGuire as chief negotiator and David White as interim national exec director. The guild's moderate leaders, who gained control last fall, had become increasingly frustrated over Allen's inability to make a feature-primetime deal, his advocacy of a a strike authorization and moves by SAG last spring to unsuccessfully derail ratification of AFTRA's primetime deal.
AFTRA had split angrily with SAG a year ago over extensive jurisdictional disputes, leading to AFTRA negotiating its own primetime pact for the first time in three decades. The two unions had managed to patch up their differences last fall and reach a non-disparagement agreement prior to starting the commercial contract talks.
McGuire and White have not yet been able to reach a final deal on SAG's feature-primetime contract, which expired nine months ago. Negotiations with the congloms on that pact collapsed on Feb. 19 over the issue of when that would expire -- although both sides had reached agreement on all other issues.
The threat of a SAG-AFTRA strike against the ad industry emerged March 17 with the unofficial release of a draft letter seeking a strike authorization vote from SAG and AFTRA members. But that letter was not sent out to the members.
SAG and AFTRA staged a bitter six-month strike in 2000 against the ad industry over the industry's desire to revamp the compensation system.
The unions said Wednsday that the new deal includes:
* a 5.1% overall increase in wages and other compensation over the life of the contracts, including a 4.43% increase in Class A, "wild spot" and basic cable session fees;
* for Internet and new media, 1.3 times the minimum session fee for eight weeks of use and 3.5 times the minimum session fee for one year’s use
* a 0.5% increase in the employer contribution rate to the unions pension and health plans, bringing the total contribution rate to 15.3%.
* a first-ever cap on employer contributions to pension and health. The ad industry had demanded an annual $250,000 cap per performer per contract but settled for a $1 million cap.
* the number of covered jobs for extras rose from 40 to 45 and established an $8 round-trip milage fee for extras
* new exclusivity provisions for made-for cable only commercials and increased foreign use payments for Spanish Language work.
“The AFTRA and SAG commercials contracts provide our members with the solid foundation they need to sustain their careers and families,” said AFTRA president Roberta Reardon in a statement. “In this round of negotiations, during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, we successfully improved wages and expanded benefits to keep our members working now and in the future."
Sue-Anne Morrow, who chaired SAG's part of the negotiating committee, said the new contract's greatest achievement is in protecting Class A residuals payments. "By securing a joint study to research and develop a workable compensation model, our negotiating committee protected every member who works under these contracts across the country,” she added.
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Now this video from Scott explaining the reason for this thursday's “Justice For Actors" rally followed by written information about it.
TARGET="_blank"> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhrc-Av-Jxo
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The Rally this week is at the AMPTP/MPAA offices at the Galleria in Sherman Oaks, NW corner of Ventura and Sepulveda Blvds on Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 11am-2pm. Parking at the Galleria and on side streets.
AMPTP states "There is no merit to these [anti-trust] allegations"
FACT: Universal owns NBC and Hulu.com
FACT: Disney owns ABC, in talks to buy into Hulu.com
FACT: Viacom owns Paramount, CBS and CNet
FACT: News Corp owns Fox studios, Fox network and Hulu.com
FACT: Warner Bros has a huge cable empire.
FACT: Sony owns Columbia and MGM and has tv networks reaching 400 million viewers worldwide.
This handful of monolithic companies own studios, networks, cable companies and internet companies.
This is only a partial listing of these self-dealing monopolies that are engaged in production, distribution and exhibition of entertainment.
AMPTP states: "Amazingly, at a time when so many others are losing their jobs or worried about their futures, this small group continues to protest guaranteed wage increases, higher pension contributions and new forms of earning like the first-ever payments for Internet streaming for SAG members."
WE HAD BETTER PROTEST 
FACT: we will lose $600 million in network move over to streaming.
FACT: the fractional pension improvement, one-half of one percent, will be more than wiped out by losses in the move over of 14.8%.
FACT: They get 17 to 24 days of free streaming then pay $22.77 for 6 months of constant streaming.
FACT: pre 1971 movies: no residuals in New Media
FACT: pre 1974 tv series: no residuals in New Media
FACT: Non-union production in New Media
FACT: Product Integration: 2 jobs - 1 paycheck
FACT: Clips: As a condition of employment we lose control of name, voice and likeness
BE AT THE RALLY TO DEFEND YOUR ABILITY TO MAKE A LIVING
In Solidarity Scott Wilson, Henry Kingi and the SAG Stalwarts
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Attorney General Eric Holder; just as Attorney General Bobby Kennedy did in the Early Sixties, it’s time for you to take action and put an end to the AMPTP’s anti-trust actions that will destroy the entertainment business.
SAG’s Scott Wilson, the leader of the voices that are speaking up on behalf of us all; (1) They have publicly condemned those high profile members like Tom Hanks, George Clonney and Sally Field, who compromised our AMPTP negotiations by going on record indicating that our membership did not have the resolve to go on strike. (2) They have given our membership and the general public an awareness of what is at stake in this impasse between SAG and employers from residuals to the right to vote on decision that affect our livelihoods. This while the current New York and Branches USAN SAG board majority sits silently by stymied by what to do next…but grovel. (3) And Scott and his SAG Stalwarts have pointed to the “White Elephant in the Room;” The fact that there is rampant collusion going on in the industry. It not only touches on, but slams into ANTI TRUST issues that are adversely impacting Hollywood’s entire creative community.
Scott addressed the ant-trust situation that now exists and its ramifications in his recent letter to US Attorney Eric Holder. (Read Scott’s letter to the Attorney General in my previous post.)
Before reading the “Hulu” article, here is a note I sent to a London reporter who requested the Ol’ Watchdog’s thoughts on the matter.
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Global Competition Review magazine:
Here is my take on the situation including a little historical perspective:
The current circumstances actors find themselves in are not a new ones They have their roots in the antitrust issues of the past. In 1948 the United States Supreme Court found that the studio ownership of theater chains was in violation of federal antitrust laws and they were subsequently forced to divest themselves of those chains.
Later, in the Early Sixties there was another antitrust issue; This time the ‘conflict of interest’ was not between studios and theater ownership, but rather because the powerful MCA talent agency, run by Lew Wasserman, intended to own both the talent agency and Universal movie studio.
At that time, the Department of Justice, under Robert Kennedy, found that owning both the movie studio and talent agency would violate antitrust laws. Thus MCA head, Lew Wasserman, was forced to dissolve MCA’s Talent agency in order to acquire Universal studio.
As we have moved into the twenty-first century, actors find themselves being squeezed out of their ability to make a living by both our employers and our agents in a myriad of ‘conflicts of interests’ by which those of the Twentieth Century pale.
Our employers not only own the shows that we work, but like the employers of the past, they own the venues on which the product will be delivered. No, they no longer own theaters, but they do own TV networks, cable networks, and have entered into undisclosed percentage deals with the likes of Netflix that bypass collective bargaining agreements with actors…and now they have staked their claim on the Internet with venues like Hulu, and others. And they have publicly proclaimed their intention of getting rid of residuals, the life’s blood of actors, along with an end of the core principle of the Screen Actors Guild that signatories cannot do non-union productions.
Like I said actors are feeling it from both sides. Not only are they being squeezed by employers, but, also, by their agents, who through a “deal” with another performers union, AFTRA, are allowed an ownership role in the shows they produce. Because of this conflict, actors can no longer be certain that their agents are working in their best interests.
It is because of these various untenable circumstances that actors. such as SAG’s Ralph Morgan Award winner and distinguished actor Scott Wilson and other concerned actors, writers and entertainment workers, are demanding that the Department of Justice look into the current situation that is having a negative impact on the entire creative community.
Hope this information has been helpful.
A.L. Miller SAG Watchdog
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Here is an article from the LA Times; It a further demonstration that employers anti-trust tentacles are tightening their grip, further putting the squeeze on all of us who act, write, and facilitate the making of entertainment product.
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Disney's new Web strategy: joining Hulu.com
Seeking broader distribution of its shows, the company is negotiating with rivals Fox and NBC to take an equity stake in the fast-growing site where users can watch movies and TV episodes for free.
By Dawn C. Chmielewski and Meg James
March 28, 2009
Walt Disney Co., signaling a dramatic shift in its Internet strategy, is negotiating with longtime media rivals to take an equity stake in Hulu.com, the fast-growing website where users can watch movies and TV episodes for free.
In exchange, Disney would provide episodes of ABC shows to Hulu, significantly broadening the program offerings to include such hits as "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives."
The discussions, which heated up in recent weeks, represent an evolution of ABC's Web strategy, which had focused on drawing viewers to the network's own site. Disney appears to have decided that the power of the ABC and Disney names is not strong enough for the company to compete and that it needs broader distribution for its shows.
Disney's willingness to join Hulu also validates the success of the joint venture created two years ago by rivals News Corp. and NBC Universal. The website, along with its quirky name, was initially greeted with skepticism as observers questioned whether the two media giants, longtime competitors, could create an online destination for professional content.
"This is an acknowledgment of Hulu's rapid growth and its ability to sustain a very large audience," said Michael McGuire, media analyst with Gartner Inc.
Disney, he said, has "got to go where the people are."
Hulu's audience has exploded. The site attracted 34.7 million viewers in February -- slightly more people than those watching an episode of Fox's hit show "American Idol," according to ComScore Video Metrix, which tracks online traffic. Still, that's about a quarter of the more than 145 million U.S. Internet users. The number of Hulu video viewers jumped 42% in February, according to ComScore. But the audience for the site is still dwarfed by Google Inc.'s popular YouTube.com.
"We're seeing a confirmation of a very important new power center," McGuire said. "Hulu has turned into much more than what a lot of people thought it would."
Disney made a bet three years ago that the strength of its ABC and Disney brands would be enough to attract online viewers, and so it chose not to participate in Hulu during its launch. ABC shows, including "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," have generated plenty of viewers on ABC.com, but it now trails other network sites, including Hulu and CBS, according to ComScore.
People within the company say the change in direction was mandated by Chief Executive Bob Iger, who has championed Disney's push into the digital media future with a deal to offer downloads of TV shows through Apple Inc.'s iTunes. Executives said Iger had been calling for another big move.
Disney would receive a stake in the joint venture on par with Fox and NBC -- likely 30% for each network. That would preserve Providence Equity Partners' 10% holding, which it received in exchange for an early $100-million investment. It's probable that the venture will need additional funding before it turns a profit, but the addition of Disney's content may well help it achieve a tipping point.
Another network also has been courting Disney: CBS, which owns TV.com, a Hulu rival. This underscores the popularity of ABC's shows online, which Nielsen VideoCensus reports included nine of the top 10 most viewed in February.
But despite its considerable traction, Hulu has created thorny issues for media companies that are partners in the site. So far, TV shows available online with a few commercials generate substantially less money than the longtime Hollywood model of making shows for broadcast networks and cable channels. The big profits were traditionally made after shows were on the air four seasons, accumulating enough episodes to sell reruns to local stations and cable.
For now, media companies, including Disney, are betting that they will eventually figure out a way to squeeze sufficient dollars from the Internet to pay the costs of producing shows. But that's probably several years away.
A more immediate concern is how Hulu is complicating longtime partnerships. The on-demand element of Hulu -- with clicks of the mouse, viewers can watch episodes of programs any time they want -- threatens to erode the value of established broadcast and cable channels.
Hulu Chief Executive Jason Kilar said in an interview this month that his company, though "relentlessly obsessive" about meeting viewer demands, needed to keep its partners and advertisers happy.
If only employers were just as “relentlessly obsessive” about meeting the needs, and keeping happy ‘its partners’, who actually participate in making the product, which makes them $billions, we would have made a deal by now.
Sometimes, that entails holding back a popular show so that the networks can make money on other platforms -- like traditional TV.
dawn.chmielewski@
latimes.com
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A.L. Miller SW Editor & Chief
*Boxoffice returns continue to break records. This weeknend up forty percent over last weekend. But, but, remember we have to accept employers rollbacks because of the bad economy
*Photos by Thomas Furlano!
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Big Turn on for Yesterday’s Rally (4/2/09) and we’ve got video with President Rosenberg, former President Ed Asner and more 
A message to Attorney General Eric Holder: It concerns the Hulu ‘deal,’ another nail in the coffin that will bury the ability of actors and entertainment workers to make a living. (Information about the next “Justice For Actors” Rally) 
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